There are a lot of exciting technical things we could say about Progressive Web App, or PWA’s, but it’s very doubtful that you’d care. As a matter of fact, to the typical owner of an online business, knowing the technical particulars is unimportant. The only thing eCommerce merchants care about is whether or not having a PWA is right for their business. That’s an easy question to answer. It is! Having an eCommerce website developed as a PWA will become more and more crucial as time passes, because at some point, if you don’t have one, you will be the only member of a very exclusive group. And your eCommerce business will suffer significantly, if it survives at all… That sounds ominous, but after reading this piece, you’re very likely to agree.

Progressive Web App – a definition and description

An easily-understandable (thank goodness) definition of the progressive web app comes from the folks at Wikipedia:

“Progressive web applications (PWAs) are web applications that load like regular web pages or websites but can offer the user functionality such as working offline, push notifications, and device hardware access traditionally available only to native applications.”

Let’s make it simpler: With a PWA, visitors (also known as potential customers) can load your URL onto their mobile device home screen. It will appear as an icon, just as a native app does. When clicked, the icon will open your Website.

But that’s only half of the story. Your eCommerce website itself will be transformed into a blazing fast and ultra-mobile-friendly site. This will allow visitors to shop and purchase from their mobile devices without the frustrations of the all-too-typical mobile shopping experience (excessive scrolling, ‘click here’ buttons that do nothing, painfully slow loading etc.)

Progressive Web Apps will also provide other features formerly available only on native mobile applications, such as the ability to work offline, access from any device, and the power to do push notifications for user retention and re-engagement. The PWA will work with any browser or OS and will be updated automatically (these are called “progressive enhancements”, hence the name.)

Why is all this important?

We’ve heard time and time again about the high abandonment rates associated with slow websites (as high as 60%), but what about abandonment due to poor performance on mobile devices? Example: One online merchant reported to us that 70% of his website visits came from mobile devices, but only 25% of his sales. Given that 40% of shoppers who have negative experiences when they access a site from their mobile device “defect” to the competition, it’s reasonable to assume that he’s losing some of those visitors.

Mobile eCommerce cannot be ignored

Here are some more statistics to keep you up at night if your Website isn’t mobile friendly:

Black Friday 2018 – 40% of $6.2 billion in purchases came from mobile devices. Considering that Black Friday is traditionally a day for brick and mortar, this is particularly noteworthy.

Cyber Monday 2019 – Of the $7.9 billion in purchases, 30% came from mobile devices, despite the fact that 54% of total website visits originated from smartphones or tablets. That means that approximately half of that 54% did not purchase anything.

2018 Holiday Season – approximately 40% of all online purchases during the Thanksgiving – Christmas – New Year season were completed from smartphones. Clearly, companies with mobile-friendly websites have the advantage over those that don’t.

So, is it time to spend thousands of dollars on a mobile app?

That, of course, is your prerogative. But this blog makes a pretty compelling case in favor of the Progressive Web App, doesn’t it? PWA’s give your eCommerce store everything it needs to provide a fast, easy and efficient mobile shopping experience without the expense and complication of developing a native app store-type app. Plus, the PWA does not need to be built separately for each operating system or browser. It works with everything.

PWA’s and Adeo Web

Adeo Web is proud to be one of the first eCommerce systems integrators to embrace Progressive Web App technology. Starting with March 2019, our Magento migrations and web development will be in PWA format whenever possible. That means our clients will enjoy all of the PWA benefits mentioned in this article along with Adeo Web’s great performance and service.

How do you get there from here?

If you want your Website to be lightning fast and your eCommerce store to be a player on the mobile stage, you need only to follow Adeo Web’s simple, step by step instructions: